Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Chicago cops have arrested two men downtown as officers struggle to clean up a massive robbery surge that has been allowed to fester in River North, the Loop, and Magnificent Mile neighborhoods.

Damonte Jones is accused of robbing the woman outside of a hotel in the first block of West Illinois. | CPD; Google

In the first case, prosecutors have charged 18-year-old Damonte Jones with robbing a tourist outside of a hotel in the River North neighborhood on Friday night. A 25-year-old New York woman told police that Jones robbed her of her phone as she stood in the first block of West Illinois Street around 10:30 p.m. An off-duty Chicago police officer who witnessed the robbery chased Jones and detained him for police outside of Shaw’s Crab House, 25 East Hubbard, according to court records.

The off-duty officer told investigators that Jones dropped the woman’s phone during the foot chase, but the off-duty cop was able to stop, pick it up, and continue the pursuit.

Police said they asked Jones if she took the woman’s phone and he replied, “I’m not saying I did and I’m not saying I didn’t.”

Jones, of the South Shore neighborhood, is charged with one count of felony robbery. Judge David Navarro set bail at $10,000.

Oluwatosin Oki was arrested in the 100 block of East Delaware, police said. | CPD; Google

Then, there’s the case of 39-year-old parolee Oluwatosin Oki.

Police said a Wheaton man reported that Oki reached into his taxi cab, put him into a chokehold, and took his wallet in the 100 block of East Delaware around 6 p.m. on October 15th. Oki then took $60 from the wallet and fled into an alley just off the Magnificent Mile, according to the victim and a witness.

Prosecutors charged Oki with misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor theft. Oki’s parole has been revoked by the Illinois Department of Corrections, and he has been returned to Stateville Correctional Center.